IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

Biogas from waste and residues is a renewable transportation fuel, which can contribute directly to the fulfillment of several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In this paper, we address the question of how biogas value chains, and the respective actor networks, emerge at the local level. The purpose of the paper is to empirically assess the development of local biogas transport systems in three Swedish regions, and how policy – including so-called network management – can support this development. The analysis draws on an analytical framework describing how emerging actor networks can be strengthened, and multiple data collection methods (personal interviews, workshop, and secondary sources). The results indicate that four factors explain the success of developing effective local biogas systems: (i) a clear political vision and an adequate basis for decision-making; (ii) a reliance on green public procurement giving priority to biogas vehicles (including follow-up); (iii) integrated actor networks, facilitating knowledge development and sharing of information; and (iv) strategies to deal with an uneven system growth.

The objective of this product category rules (PCR) project is two-fold: to develop an international common operational methodology for building products environmental declarations (ED), and to identify aspects that are not yet agreed upon. This PCR cover technical aspects relevant for the declaration of building products based on a life-cycle assessment (LCA) covering the 'cradle-to-gate' perspective. The PCR also include specifications to develop a PCR on building products' applications that account for a full life cycle (cradle-to-grave). Only when the LCA covers a full life cycle is it, in theory, possible to use the result for supporting decision-making in comparative purpose, provided that a common functional unit can be established. The development of EDs also makes the type III declaration a useful tool to aid consumers in decision-making. To comply with the ISO 14025 standard for EDs, this PCR has to be complemented by administrative rules that are relevant to a program operator and the environmental declaration type III program that is specified by this program body. For implementation on the Swedish market, the PCR developed here will be complemented with such administrative issues defined in the type III program 'Requirements for Environmental Product Declarations', hosted by the Swedish Environmental Management Council (MSR).

Denna rapport är skriven inom projektet 'Upphandlingskrav för cirkulära flöden i bygg- och rivningsprocessen', med syfte har att utarbeta en plan för hur offentlig upphandling i bygg- och rivningsprojekt kan utformas för att stötta utvecklingen mot en cirkulär byggsektorn. Detta är en delrapport i projektet, med syfte att ta fram ett teoretiskt framtidsscenario för cirkulär upphandling av bygg- och rivningsprojekt år 2030.

Det övergripande målet med denna kartläggning har varit att undersöka ett urval av uppströmsåtgärder som genom optimerad användning eller utökad rening av läkemedel kan bidra till en minskning av den totala konsumtionen och därmed utsläppen av läkemedel till miljön och samtidigt öka patientsäkerheten samt bidra till minskade kostnader för samhället. De uppströmsåtgärder som studerats är: i) Återinföra recept på vissa läkemedel/klasser av läkemedel; ii) Utföra läkemedelsgenomgångar på personer/patienter som står på recept och äter fem eller fler mediciner per dag, oavsett ålder eller boendesituation; iii) Förskriva fysisk aktivitet och andra hälsobringande insatser; iv) Installera extra rening av utgående avloppsvatten från sjukhus och vårdinrättningar där behandlingsspecifika läkemedel hanteras; v) Använda offentlig upphandling för att förhindra överanvändning och därmed spridning av läkemedel som kan vara skadliga för miljön.

Att göra en kvantitativ uppskattning och jämförelse av samtliga uppströmsåtgärder är inte möjligt i dagsläget då det i många fall saknas tillförlitlig data på hur olika åtgärder skulle påverka utsläppen av läkemedel. Däremot kan en kvalitativ bedömning av den relativa miljönyttan av flertalet av de studerade åtgärderna göras. Baserat på resultatet från studien är bedömningen att effekterna av läkemedelsgenomgångar och separat rening av läkemedelsrester kan uppskattas med relativt god säkerhet. Osäkerheten för vilken effekt dessa åtgärder skulle ha på den totala belastningen av läkemedel till kommunala reningsverk beror framförallt på i vilken utsträckning de tillämpas. Att receptbelägga ett receptfritt läkemedel har troligtvis en tydligt mätbar effekt på användandet av just de läkemedel som får en ändrad receptstatus, men denna effekt varierar också beroende på om det finns ersättningssubstanser med samma verkningsmekanism. För åtgärderna hälsa på recept och offentlig upphandling är det svårare att uppskatta vilken effekt de skulle ha på utsläppen av läkemedel till miljön, men att alla åtgärder som i någon form begränsar överanvändningen av läkemedel i slutänden även uppfyller en miljönytta.

Jämförelsen mellan olika åtgärder visar att de verkar på olika tidsskalor. Receptbeläggning, läkemedelsgenomgångar och separat rening från sjukhus skulle ha en nästan omedelbar effekt på läkemedelsutsläpp från det att åtgärden införs. Att förskriva hälsa på recept, å andra sidan, skulle ha en förebyggande effekt på framtida läkemedelsanvändning men med en fördröjning på flera år från det att åtgärden införts.

De potentiella miljövinsterna, i form av minskad läkemedelsbelastning, som dessa åtgärder ger måste också utvärderas utifrån konflikt med hälsoaspekter. Hälsa på recept och läkemedelsgenomgångar är åtgärder som i första hand tagits fram med patienthälsan i fokus och därmed ses inga konflikter kring hälsoaspekterna av dessa åtgärder. Separat rening från sjukhus och upphandling skulle troligtvis inte påverka patienthälsan överhuvudtaget. Den enda åtgärd där en eventuell konflikt med hälsoaspekter kan föreligga är vid receptbeläggning av enskilda läkemedel, dvs. beroende på tillgången till läkemedelssubstitut till det läkemedel som receptbelagts.

This report is only available in Swedish. English summary is available in the report.

Local emissions of pharmaceuticals at production sites can cause severe environmental problems. Currently there are no laws, regulations, or rules to demand the pharmaceutical sector to report emissions of pharmaceuticals from manufacturing facilities. There are however several voluntarily based initiatives both from governments, environmental organizations as well as from the pharmaceutical sector itself to monitor and promote less environmental pollution.

One such initiative is the model for environmental risk assessment of pharmaceutical production that was developed by IVL in 2019 (report B2352, Pålsson et al). This report describes the further development and testing of the model for the use in public procurement decisions in Sweden. The study also included an investigation of other, similar national and international initiatives as well as a roadmap for further development of the model.  

The risk assessment of antimicrobial substances was further developed during the project with an inclusion of PNEC-R calculations that specifically address the predicted no effect concentration of resistance as opposed to the ordinary PNEC-value which is based on ecotoxicological effects within the recipient.  

The PNEC-R calculation should reflect concentrations withing the wastewater stream leaving the manufacturing site. For antimicrobial substances both an ecotoxicological based PNEC and a PNEC-R value should be determined and the lowest of the two should be used in the following risk calculation. Furthermore, the PEC-calculation for antimicrobial substances should be adjusted to not include the removal rate (%) for off-site wastewater treatment, since the mixture of different wastewater streams in off-site treatment plants rather increases than decreases the development of antimicrobial resistance.  

The intended testing of the model with real world data provided by the companies, was unfortunately not feasible within the project. The main reasons given by the companies for not submitting data were competing priorities in other project and internal reorganisations, competing priorities in global organisations or external contract partners that were unwilling to provide the requested information.  

Nevertheless, the theoretical evaluation and testing showed that it will be possible to use the proposed model and the risk phrases it generates within public procurement decisions. The model could be incorporated into the already existing evaluation system in Fass and thereby provide the procurement organization with the necessary risk phrases without revealing confidential data outside the third-party reviewer team. This is most likely an important addition to the existing suggested package of procurement criteria by the National Agency for Public Procurement as there are no possibilities at hand to give preference to bidders from a performance point of view. Making use of the different risk phrases in public procurement can be a more elaborated and distinct way to evaluate the input from bidders.  

Sidbrytning 

The mapping of the national and international initiatives showed that there are many relevant ongoing projects and initiatives covering models for risk assessment on pharmaceutical production and/or environmental aspects in public procurement of pharmaceuticals. Cooperation and alignment of the model developed by IVL with the other initiatives is needed. Further need for development of the model are the following: 

In a complex value chain, the final risk phrase for the product is represented by the site with highest risk phrase, no matter how well the rest of the sites performed. This makes the model somewhat blunt. In future versions of the model, it is desirable that this is adjusted to better reflect the environmental performance of the whole value chain.  

The PEC-local calculation for antimicrobial substances could be further updated to better reflect the concentrations in the wastewater stream leaving the on-site treatment facility, where the PNEC-R is preferably applied, rather than the concentration within the recipient. 

Alignment of the model with the industrial initiatives taken by e.g. EFPIA. 

Föreliggande undersökning initierades för att erhålla ett bättre underlag om källor och omsättning av PCB i Järnsjön, i Emåns vattendragssystem. Syftet med studien var bl a att fastställa tillförseln av PCB till sjön, beräkna bidraget av PCB från sedimentet och att beskriva under vilka omständigheter PCB kan läcka från sedimentet. Transporten av PCB i Emån styrs av uttransporten från Järnsjön. Sjöns sediment beräknas innehålla 1200 kg PCB och belastade Emån med 11-42 gram/dygn. Under perioden april-november 1987 var belastningen från sjön ca 2,8 kg PCB på Emån, medan utsläppet från ett returpappersbruk direkt uppströms sjön var 0,03 kg. Desorption från sedimentet var en viktig process för transporten, men även mikrobiell mediering kan ha varit betydelsefull. Huvuddelen av det PCB som frigjordes från sjöns sediment återfanns i åns mynningsområde och belastningen på Östersjön var 0,4 kg/månad.

Cirkulär upphandling är förhållandevis komplicerat eftersom produkter ofta är sammansatta av flera material där varje komponent måste beaktas separat. Detta leder till en stor mängd tänkbara kriterier. Denna rapport har kartlagt förekomst av kriterier som kan användas i cirkulär upphandling utifrån ett flertal informationskällor såsom EU´s kriterier för miljöanpassad upphandling, miljömärkning, Upphandlingsmyndigetens hållbarhetskriterier m.m.

De olika identifierade cirkulära upphandlingskriterierna omfattar produktområdena byggprodukter, möbler, plast, IT-utrustning och livsmedel och för vart och ett har en uppdelning gjorts efter typ av återvinningspotential. Dessa omfattar förlängd livslängd, giftfria kretslopp, resurseffektiv användning och cirkulering av material.

Fortsatt forskningsarbete bör omfatta att sortera de identifierade kriterierna i ett livscykelperspektiv utifrån de olika typer av kravställningar som vanligtvis förekommer i upphandlingssammanhang.

Upphandling har identifierats som ett centralt verktyg i samhällets omställning till en cirkulär ekonomi. Den nationella upphandlingsstrategin poängterar att ett livscykelperspektiv ska beaktas i offentlig upphandling eftersom ett bristande helhetsperspektiv annars kan leda till felsatsningar och utebliven klimateffekt. Cirkulär upphandling behöver därför utvecklas för att beakta livscykelperspektivet.

Cirkulär upphandling är en förhållandevis ny företeelse som inte omfattas av nuvarande upphandlingsregelverk, så det finns en stor efterfrågan på vägledning och exempel på hur den ska tillämpas i praktiken. Men det behövs mer kunskap och praktisk vägledning på området.

Denna rapport sammanställer dagsläge, hinder och möjligheter FÖR att utveckla kriterier för cirkulär upphandling utifrån politiska initiativ, forskning, internationellt arbete och anknytande aktiviteter. Pågående forskning är den aktivitet som i dagsläget huvudsakligen bygger upp ny kunskap om cirkulära upphandlingskriterier. En rekommendation för framtiden är att länka samman löpande forskningsarbete med Upphandlingsmyndighetens kriteriearbete. Allteftersom forskningsarbete visar att tillräcklig kunskap finns om en viss produkts återvinningspotential kan ett kriteriearbete påbörjas koordinerat av Upphandlingsmyndigheten inom ramen för uppbyggnad av en temporär databas kallad Kriterieklivet.   

A structure for PCR documents in the international EPD¬system based on the Central Product Classification is proposed. The Central Product Classification (CPC) of the United Nations is a complete product classification covering goods and services The CPC will be used as the basis for a PCR structure to: 1. Provide a structure for industry specific PCR core modules, or rather the PCR core module and up-streams modules as well as down-streams modules within the product group system boundary 2. Open up for differentiated, but defined levels of requirements in the PCR document, i.e. part of the requirements may be applicable on a generic product group level, part of the requirements may be limited to selected individual products. The PCR document should be structured accordingly. Report in Swedish

To be able to assess the environmental consequences of pharmaceutical products, reliable, comparable and relevant information is needed about the environmental impacts along the life cycle of the product.

This project has developed and proposed a model for environmental assessment of pharmaceutical products, in regard to environmental risks related to emissions of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) from production processes and product carbon footprint in a life cycle perspective. The two parts is intended to supplement and expand the current environmental classification at Fass.se, which covers environmental risks from release of API from patient excretion in Swedish water recipients. The model is aimed to facilitate comparability of performed assessments of products with the same API and allow for third party review and validation, to ensure credibility and quality of reported results.

The environmental risk part of the proposed model includes production stages where API can be/is released to the environment and builds on the current environmental classification at Fass.se. The carbon footprint part of the model covers greenhouse gas emissions in a life cycle perspective. We propose to use the framework described in ISO 14025 for environmental product declarations and initiate the development of Product Category Rules (PCR) for pharmaceutical products. Different potential options for such development are outlined in the report.

The proposed model is aimed to deliver product specific environmental assessment results that may be used in a wide variety of different applications to control, manage and reduce impacts along the pharmaceutical value chain and drive improvements in different parts of the chain. The report includes an overview of potential use of the information, such as pharmaceutical benefits subsidy systems, procurement, process and product improvement, guidance in product choice as well as assessments in conjunction with product approval. The actual intended application of results, however, needs to be better understood in order to prioritise and guide further development and implementation of the model.

Circular economy aims at maintaining the value of products, materials and resources in the economy, in circulation by closing material loops and minimizing waste generation. In recent years, interest in circular public procurement has increased as the role of public procurement has been recognized important but yet not fully exploited opportunity by public authorities such as cities and municipalities in their transition towards circular societies while providing companies with new business opportunities and growth.

This study analyzed possibilities and opportunities of public procurement to promote circular economy. Different approaches and examples of circular public procurement were recognized by case studies. In addition, opportunities to promote circularity were recognized among preset sustainable or green procurement criteria. In accordance with the principles of circular economy, public procurement can promote closed loops by setting criteria and requirements on the extension of product lifespan, efficiency and/or intensity of use, efficient cycling of biological or technical materials, and securing of clean and non-risky cycles.

This study formulated four approaches to circular procurement, including the procurement of better quality products in circular terms, the procurement of new circular products, the use of business concepts that support the circular economy, and investments in circular ecosystems. Several sectors and product groups were recognized as potential for circular procurement, such as construction, waste and wastewater management, transportation, food and catering, furniture and textiles. The study also suggests that several tools such as performance based procurement, use of life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) as well as criteria concerning reuse and recycling of materials could promote circular procurement. Market dialogue and co-operation between different actors in the supply chains are important for the future development of circular procurement. In addition, education of procurers is essential for the adoption of new practices.

IVL har på uppdrag av Nynäshamns kommun utfört en miljöeffektbeskrivning för den planerade anläggningen för ammoniaktillverkning, NPC-kombinatet, i Nynäshamn. Vid processen, förgasning av kol, produceras dessutom värme som skall levereras till Stockholm för uppvärmningsändamål. Utsläppen till luft av svaveloxid och kväveoxider kommer att bli oförändrade eller öka. Grundvattnet i anslutning till kollagret och slaggdeponin kommer sannolikt inte att utsättas för någon större risk för miljöpåverkan med föreslagna åtgärder. I vattenmiljön medför sannolikt minskade utsläpp av olja att recipienten fortsätter att tillfriskna. Utsläppen av kväve kan lokalt få en kraftigt gödande effekt. Direkt påvisbara toxiska effekter av ammoniak och cyanid bör kunna undvikas under normala driftsförhållanden. Alla ansträngningar bör göras för att förhindra utsläpp av PCB.

The environmental challenges shall be used as an economic driver by making use of advanced environmental requirements in public procurement. Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a market-based and powerful tool in our work for a sustainable consumption and production.

An international response to a this challenge has realized the necessity to incorporate two new aspects to consider – the inclusion of a life cycle perspective and the concept of circular economy, which favors better incentives of waste minimization through reuse of materials and energy.

The Swedish Government has realized this new development and the need of a holistic approach by addressing these topics in a newly published “National Procurement Strategy”. It specifically emphasizes that the lack of a holistic approach could result in ineffective environmental measures, costs and other activities which might not be considered otherwise. It could also lead to sub-optimization of resources not knowing where the most important environmental impacts occur in a product´s life cycle. It is therefore of vital importance to fully consider a life cycle perspective in public procurement as well as the concept for circular economy in future procurement activities. In many cases, such activities need support from LCA-studies. Therefore, the report suggests the introduction of a new concept – effective requirements – based on both driving and LCA-based requirements.

For all actors providing procurement support in general, it is important to prepare for taking aboard these new challenges into their agendas. In many cases these new challenges might be difficult to incorporate into the daily agenda in the short term. It is therefore of vital concern to take full advantages of current LCA-studies and existing EPD´s on the market.

This report makes an attempt to cover information on progress with regard to GPP in general, legislation on the subject, governmental support as well as experiences from procurement authorities in their daily work. It also describes the principles for a life cycle perspective and circularity with regard to GPP and recent trends on the subject both on a national and international level.

This report also tries to identify potential research areas within the concept of Sustainable Procurement as well as giving a historic review of GPP in Sweden.

The environmental challenges shall be used as an economic driver by making use of advanced environmental requirements in public procurement. Green Public Procurement (GPP) is a market-based and powerful tool in our work for a sustainable consumption and production. An international response to this challenge has realized the necessity to incorporate two new aspects to consider – the inclusion of a life cycle perspective and the concept of circular economy, which favor better incentives of waste minimization through reuse and recycling of materials and energy.

New national procurement legislation was enacted in Sweden from the beginning of 2017 making it possible to use environmental criteria considering a life cycle perspective. The Swedish Government has the need of a holistic approach by addressing these topics in its “National Procurement Strategy”. It specifically emphasizes that the lack of a holistic approach could result in ineffective environmental measures, costs and other activities which might not be considered otherwise. It could also lead to sub-optimization of resources not knowing where the most important environmental impacts occur in a product´s life cycle. It is therefore of vital importance to fully consider a life cycle perspective in public procurement as well as the concept for circular economy in future procurement activities. In many cases, such activities need information from life cycle assessments (LCA).

There are several good opportunities to include LCA-information in GPP. ISO-standards are now available specifically adapted to public procurement focusing on environmental declarations, EPD, which has proven to be successful in the building/construction and food sector. Quite a number of open-accessible LCA-databases have also been established to promote the use of LCA-information for a variety of market applications. Circular procurement is quite a new concept in the procurement process. There are some few examples of successful procurements leading to increased use of reuse and recycling of materials and energy. Hence, there is lack of a common and generally-accepted procurement procedure stimulating circular material flows. However, there are a lot of ongoing research activities on this subject.

Environmental problems are today global and pollutant emissions transboundary. Hence, Sweden cannot cope with its environmental challenges on its own. Recently, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency announced that we do not reach most of our national environmental goals – not even our “generation goal” – the predominant goal for future environmental work in Sweden. This is due to an increase of emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in other countries (which is twice as much as the territorial emissions) and has shown an increase since many years as a consequence of the consumption pattern in Sweden. Adding to this, it was stated that Sweden has a responsible for our pollutant emissions where ever they occur. Public procurement is considered to be an effective political tool in the environmental domain and has the possibility to put direct demands on the environmental performance of products from foreign suppliers. In fact, GPP might be the only practical tool we have in the public sector with the capacity to influence foreign suppliers to reduce their GHG emissions.

The preparatory work to the Swedish governments climate-political framework to 2030 includes suggestions for measures in different sectors of society to reduce their GHG emission with up to 60 – 70 % as a contribution to our overall national commitments to international agreements to reduce GHG emissions. Here, the importance of GPP was mentioned as one of these activities. However, no information was given on how or to what extent GPP actions would have to be taken to accomplish necessary reductions of GHG emissions. The consumption-related GHG emissions have to be reduced to quite some extent within 10 years until 2030. If Sweden should be able to meet the challenge to become the world´s first climate-neutral welfare country the emissions must be reduced at a much higher pace than today – our consumption-related GHG emissions must be one-tenth of the current levels.

The Swedish governments climate-political framework also highlights the need to consider a life cycle perspective in the different phases of public procurement and to be effective in this sense there is a need of easy-accessible LCA data to collect and follow-up. It is also emphasized through recent activities in EU and UNEP there is now good opportunities to put demand on LCA-information in environmental declarations (EPD) in public procurement. The National Strategy for Procurement it is further stressed that, when forwarding demands on foreign suppliers in public procurement, these have to be based on international standards. It seems that from a political level there are now officially stated expectations on GPP as instrumental in these achievements and even clear messages how to move forward making use of LCA and EPD. Such methods and tools are now available through a number of ISO standards specifically adapted to public procurement.

It is important to prepare for taking aboard these new challenges to mitigate climate change and create circular material flows for all actors on the market providing procurement support. In practice, procurement organizations may have to consider and include a life cycle perspective into their tender documents by including requests for LCA-information and environmental declarations, EPD – a quantitative descriptions of the environmental performance of products over its entire life cycle – which has proven to be supportive as an effective tool in GPP initially in the building and food sector. Currently this development is taking place as voluntary market-based initiatives. Hopefully these initiatives will pave the way for more effective procurement criteria in the public sector.

The report also tries to elaborate on what needs to be considered as complementary to environmental criteria to be more successful with regard to environmental efficiency. Based on the inclusion of LCA-data and environmental criteria being more strict than existing legislation, economic motives for suppliers “to do more” than requested was found to be key. Therefore, this report recommends a three-staged approach including both LCA-information, driving criteria as well as different forms of economic incentives for environmental criteria to become more effective. Procurement work has to be much more flexible and avoid too strict technical requirements on products which otherwise hampers new and better environmental solutions. It is important to introduce a procedure stimulating those suppliers that can provide more environmentally-adapted offers to also win contracts – a sort of “regular innovation work”.

This report makes an attempt to cover information on progress with regard to GPP from when it all started 25 years ago, legislation on the subject, governmental support as well as experiences from procurement authorities in their daily work. It also describes the principles for a life cycle perspective and circularity with regard to GPP and recent trends on the subject both on a national and international level. It also gives a historic review of the development of GPP in Sweden.

Trafikverket ställer regelbundet klimatkrav i sina upphandlingar. Detta initiativ har rönt stort nationellt och internationellt intresse och visar på möjligheten att praktiskt använda LCA och EPD i offentlig upphandling.

Circular procurement can be a powerful tool in reducing GHG-emissions since it influences product design, resource efficiency, reuse and/or recycling. Unlike traditional environmental criteria, circular procurement requires nuanced, product- and material-specific criteria that address lifecycle impacts. This research project explores incorporating circular aspects into standardized environmental declarations (EPD, ISO 14025) and examples of other ways to verify circularity in products and services.

The study includes a broad mapping of circular criteria applications across sectors such as construction, textiles, furniture, and IT products, with notable progress in construction. In one part of the project 20 criteria were defined, which outline responsibilities for procurers and suppliers, fostering product design, recycling, and reuse toward circularity. That approach revealed significant variability across product groups, offering insights into prioritizing criteria for future applications.

An interview study indicates limited EPD adoption in procurement, primarily due to low awareness and insufficient supplier data capabilities. There is however a positive reception toward integrating circular data into EPD frameworks, with suggestions for short- and long-term approaches. A roundtable with government, interest organizations, private industry and procurement support representatives highlighted challenges and opportunities for circular procurement in the present and for alignment on the EU’s “Fit-for-55” initiative with Digital Product Passports (DPP) under the forthcoming Ecodesign Regulation. Participants emphasized that consistent product information throughout a product’s lifecycle could facilitate circular flows and risk assessment management.

Official criteria, particularly those emerging from large-scale frameworks, tend to gain more trust and the anticipated EU-legislation under “Fit-for-55” will likely introduce extensive new requirements. Increased costs linked to compliance may present challenges for public procurement bodies, particularly for engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises sensitive to these financial impacts. A clear message from the Roundtable discussions were that there is a lot to be done and to prepare while waiting for the EU-regulations to be in place.

Den ökade fokuseringen på produkters miljöpåverkan med särskild inriktning på förpacknings- och avfallsfrågor samt miljömärkning har pekat på behovet av allmänna och generella accepterade bedömningssystem för att, utifrån ett miljömässigt perspektiv, studera en produkt under hela dess livscykel - från vaggan till graven (from cradle to grave). Befintliga metoder för sådana s k livscykelanalyser eller miljöprofilmodeller, beskriver, ofta mycket ingående, råvaruanvändning, energiförbrukning, utsläpp till miljön och avfallsmängder. En nyligen genomförd internationell uppsummering av kunskapsläget visade dock att dessa metoder är behäftade med vissa metodproblem samt att det tycks råda ett allmänt missförstånd vad metoderna egentligen beskriver samt vilka begränsningar som föreligger. Vad som helt saknas i nuvarande metoder är en analys av miljöpåverkan, där hänsyn först tas till naturresursförbrukning och utsläpp, varefter slutlig sammanvägning och bedömning göres. Det föreslagna EPS-systemet (Environmental Priority Strategies in Product Design) utgör ett system för en komplett bedömning av en produkts miljöpåverkan - en form av miljökonsekvensbeskrivning (MKB) av produkter. Systemet bygger på principen att med miljöindex för naturresursförbrukning, effekter av utsläpp, material och processer beräkna ett miljöbelastningstal (Environmental Load Value, ELV) för att på så vis ge ett relativt och kvantitativt mått på en produkts miljöpåverkan under hela dess livscykel, från råvara till avfall. EPS-systemet utgör en flexibel grundmodell för vidare verifiering och komplettering av satta miljöindex samt produktspecifiering. Vid utarbetandet av EPS-systemet har särskilt vikt lagts vid att göra det användarvänligt och kompletterbart för allehanda aspekter och löpande uppdatering. Det har därför formen av ett enkelt dataprogram, i vilket matas in uppgifter om råvaruanvändning, energiförbrukning och utsläpp. Användandet av dataprogrammet skall utgöra en enkel arbetsrutin för att, tillsammans med andra likartade bedömningar, användas av främst konstruktörer men också inköpare inom ramen för en miljöanpassad produktutveckling. Andra intressanta tillämpningsområden utgör miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar av fasta anläggningar, miljörevision, förlängt producent- och produktansvar, miljövarudeklarationer, miljömärkning samt miljöräkenskaper ('grön BNP'), d v s mycket av det som inryms inom begreppet 'Clean Technologies'.

A method of valuing various typese of environmental impacts from emissions and use of resources are described and discussed. The Basic principle used is to describe impacts on the environmnent in terms of impacts on one or several safeguard subjects (human health, biodiversity, production, resources and aesthetic values) and value changes in them according to the willingness to pay to restore them to their normal status

Purpose Life cycle assessment (LCA) is considered a robust method to analyse the environmental impacts of products and is used in public and private market applications such as Green Public Procurement (GPP) and Environmental Management Systems (EMS). Despite the usefulness of the methodology, difficulties exist with the interpretation of LCA results. The use of benchmarks can facilitate this process, but there is yet little research on the definition of environmental benchmarks. The aim of this paper is to analyse the distribution of environmental performance used for the definition of the benchmark and how it effects the use in selected product categories. Method LCA results from 54 Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for insulation materials and 49 EPDs for bakery products are tested for their distribution. The outcome from the statistical analysis is used to compare and evaluate three calculation methods for a benchmark. Results and discussion The results of the study show that distributions and mid- and end-points of environmental performances of the studied indicators differ significantly for the two product categories. While some indicators for bakery products were closer to a normal distribution, most of the indicators are not normally distributed. This is reflected in the comparison of the chosen calculation methods for a benchmark, which showed that the distribution of the data affects the classification of the benchmark as well as the position of values on the benchmark. Conclusion The results emphasise that analysis of further product groups and the associated distribution of the environmental performance is needed to understand the implications of calculation methods on a benchmark. The availability of comparatively large datasets in a common structure is crucial for these analyses and can be facilitated through the digitalisation of LCA- and EPD-information. Furthermore, more research is needed on the communication formats for different benchmarking options, which must be applied for the different intended audiences to be effective.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) represent important sources of information in applications such as ecodesign and process optimization. However, their use in comparisons and communication is still limited. Therefore, this article aims to understand the use of LCA- and EPD-information from the perspective of the practitioners, that is, professionals with experience in dealing with this type of information. A survey was built consisting of two questionnaires and two webinars, with questions related to core themes: frequency and purpose of use, comparability, and advantages and disadvantages for practical use and reliability of different presentation formats. Also, two suggested benchmarking frameworks were presented and discussed, later being commented upon and evaluated. Out of the 55 respondents, 76% stated that they use both LCA- and EPD-information, primarily to fulfill requirements from customers, in environmental management systems and for marketing purposes. It was also stated that they use LCA (73%)- and EPD (56%)-information to make comparisons but presented different responses and there were no established patterns as to the procedures. Methodological limitations and the need for harmonization of Product Category Rules (PCRs) were mentioned as limiting factors for comparisons between studies. Regarding the benchmarking frameworks, both were indicated to be potentially applicable in communication with consumers and between companies. It is concluded that LCA- and EPD-information is used by the practitioners in different applications and that there may be a need to increase standardization efforts of benchmarking procedures in order to improve communication with nonspecialist audiences.